Administrator Guide

Link Aggregation 979
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Link Aggregation
Dell Networking N1500, N2000, N3000, and N4000 Series Switches
This chapter describes how to create and configure link aggregation groups
(LAGs), which are also known as port-channels.
The topics covered in this chapter include:
• Link Aggregation
• Multi-Switch LAG (MLAG)
Link Aggregation
Overview
Link Aggregation allows one or more full-duplex Ethernet links of the same
speed to be aggregated together to form a LAG. This allows the switch to
treat the LAG as if it is a single link. The Dell Networking N-Series switches
support industry-standard LAGs that adhere to the IEEE 802.3ad
specification.
Assignment of interfaces to LAGs is based on a system limit of 144 interfaces
assigned to LAGs, a maximum of 72 dynamic LAGs (or 128 static LAGs) and
a maximum of 8 interfaces per LAG. For example, 72 dynamic LAGs may be
assigned 2 interfaces each, or 18 dynamic or static LAGs may be assigned 8
interfaces each. Alternatively, 128 interfaces can be assigned to 128 static
LAGs with each LAG containing a single port.
Each LAG can consist of up to eight 1 Gbps ports (for the Dell Networking
N1500, N2000, and N3000 Series) or eight 10 Gbps (for the Dell Networking
N4000 Series) ports (or even eight 40 Gbps interfaces). When eight Gigabit
Ethernet ports are configured as a LAG, the maximum bandwidth for the
single, logical interface is 8 Gbps, and when eight 10 Gbps ports are
configured as a LAG, the maximum bandwidth for the single, logical
interface is 80 Gbps.